Application Guidelines

Proposals should dynamically capture your research idea and the attention of the review committee; help us understand your goals and your passion for this research. Remember, your written proposal is what will be used to determine the viability of your project; so creative, graceful style, and persuasiveness are essential.

The planned research project or study may be in any field: science, engineering, the arts, the humanities, or the social sciences. There is no requirement that it be in your major. Please see the Prior Fellowship Recipients for examples of exemplary projects awarded Fellowships in recent years.

The research project must be student-originated and/or student-directed. The proposal should describe your own plan, not a faculty member's research, nor the continuation of a laboratory's work. The research plan may have been inspired by or may have grown out of previous work, perhaps a UROP project, but the proposed research must be your project. The project may be wholly original, or may be one suggested by someone else, but should be pursued in an independent, original, or unusual way.

The proposal should present evidence that the proposed project is a feasible one and has a chance of success.

An MIT faculty member need not supervise fellowship work. However, in some situations, faculty supervision or consultation may be advisable or even necessary to a project's successful outcome.

If the project is to take place at a distant site (possibly outside the U.S.), the proposal should make clear that the necessary facilities, people, and materials would be available there and any requisite permissions have been obtained. If a language other than English is required, please give some evidence of your competence.

Remember the WOW quotient when preparing your submission, i.e. produce a Well-written, Original, and Workable research proposal that wows the Fellowship Committee.

If awarded the Fellowship, your proposed research project is expected to be a full time summer occupation. It should be possible either to complete the entire work during the summer or at least a sizable portion thereof. Following the summer's work, award recipients may be asked to give a public presentation of their projects.